Wyndham Rewards: Overlooked and Underrated?

This game is all about adapting, because things are always changing. We move to the programs that offer “value.” Now we all have different opinions of what that “value” means. With many programs changing, has Wyndham Rewards been an overlooked and underrated program?

Wyndham Rewards: Overlooked and Underrated?

While much hotel love goes to SPG, Hyatt, IHG Point Breaks, and even the 5th night free of Hilton/Marriott. The only time we really hear of Wyndham is when there is a promotion going on. Even when that happens, it isn’t a huge story.

Have we been looking at this program all wrong? Should it receive a little more love?

As programs reshuffle the categories where hotels typically require more points per stay, Wyndham Rewards has kept a flat rate over the last few years.

Rewards Program

A couple of years ago, Wyndham Rewards revamped it’s award program. It made all properties a flat 15,000 points per night. This meant even the super cheap Days Inn would be the same price as the top end properties. There is more to the Wyndham Rewards program than hotels at 15,000 points a night  or 3,000 plus cash.

Earning Rates:

There are 4 member levels in Wyndham Rewards: Blue, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond.

In most programs you earn more points at a higher level of status. In Wyndham Rewards it is the same across the board, it doesn’t matter your level of status.

All members earn 10 points per dollar or 1,000 points, whichever is more for your stay. I am not someone who chases status, so I think this is quite appealing to people who don’t worry about status.

As you increase your status, you earn extra benefits including bonus points. This could make up for the point earnings being the same across the board, but there will be people who would prefer more points at a higher status level over benefits like car rental upgrades 🙂

The benefits for elites aren’t as robust as other programs, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad program.

Hotels:

This is probably the first thing you will think of when it comes to Wyndham Rewards. The Wyndham hotels have 7,800 hotels worldwide, which means there is plenty of access to a Wyndham hotel.

Wyndhams Properties include:

• Dolce Hotels and Resorts
• Wyndham Grand
• Wyndham Hotels and Resorts
• Esplendor Boutique Hotels
• Dazzler Hotels
• Trademark Hotel Collection
• Wyndham Garden
• TRYP
• Wingate by Wyndham
• Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham
• AcericInn
• Microtel
• Ramada Worldwide
• Baymont Inn and Suites
• Days Inn
• Super 8
• Howard Johnson
• Travelodge
• Knights Inn

I think many overlook this program due to the fact they aren’t as high scale as other chains. Sure they have their higher end properties, but I rarely find someone excited to use their points at a Wyndham hotel. The exception might be at their all-inclusive resorts where 15,000 per night is a pretty fantastic value.

Even if you want to knock the chain for some of it’s properties, you can’t argue that a 15,000 point flat rate isn’t a bad option for redemptions. While I understand you might not want to burn 15,000 points for a night at the Travelodge, the option is still there if you are short on cash.

There are many people who value their Marriott or Hilton point at 0.5 to 0.7 cents per point. If you are willing to redeem your points at that value, then redeeming 15,000 Wyndham points for a room costing $80 to $120 you are redeeming at the same value.

In searching, I found I was able to exceed that value and there were plenty of options around 1 cent per point or better. Since the Wyndham Reward program is a flat 15,000 points, there are many options can be a great redemption.

Luckily, hotels aren’t the only redemption option.

Cottages:

I think we see others like Hyatt trying to enter this space now and for good reason. People are wanting more than a cookie cut hotel, which is why Airbnb is successful.

Wyndham offers cottages, through Cottages.com, where it is 15,000 points per bedroom per night! There are thousands of cottages available to book as well.

These have to be booked over the phone by calling 800-232-8628. You are able to search the availability of cottages online though. I did notice many of the cottages I searched had a particular start date to the reservation.

Locations for cottages are:

• United Kingdom
• Scotland
• Wales
• France
• Ireland
• Itay

Prices vary at each location and date, but you can exceed 1 cent per point on these redemptions.

I think more importantly, you can use your Wyndham points for a cottage instead of a hotel room. I  am not sure what other hotel points you can use to redeem for an entire home at 15,000 points per night (per bedroom).

Homes:

Another option for your Wyndham pointsis to use your points and stay in a home. This can be done for 15,000 per bedroom per night or 3,000 points plus cash per night!

To book you must call 888-862-8053

Wyndham partners with Landal adnd Hif van Saksen and include locations:

• Germany
• Netherlands
• Czech Republic
• Austria

Similar to the cottages, there are certain days your reservation would need to start, but you can select:

• Weekend
• Midweek
• One and one half week
• Two weeks

I hope they continue to grow their locations in this category. While there are options in these countries, it does seem limited. If you plan to visit one of these locations, 15,000 points per night (per bedroom) is a pretty solid offer for an entire house!

Condos:

There are many locations that Wyndham offers condos. These condos are located in the US (including Hawaii), Puerto Rico, and Canada.

These redemptions can be made for 15,000 points per bedroom per night, or 3,000 points plus cash. Like the other options, you must book over the phone at 866-370-8548.

There are some great options and some of these condos are large in size! There could be minimum stays, blackout dates, and cancellation policies to worry about.

While searching, I was able to find point values that were over 1 cent per point. Which I believe to be pretty fantastic for hotel points.

Credit Card Offerings:

The Wyndham Rewards Credit Card currently (and it comes around often) is offering a 45,000 point bonus after spending $2,000 (30,000 after 1st purchase, another 15,000 after $2,000 spend). That is enough for 3 nights anywhere there is a Wyndham Hotel. The fee is $75, but for the bonus, the fee is worth it

There is a fee free version which is currently offering a 18,000 point bonus (15,000 after 1st purchase, another 3,000 after $1,000 spend). This is enough for 1 night with a little left over.

Outside of the bonus, the card earns:

• 5 points per dollar (3 points for fee free version) for eligible purchases for Wyndham Vacation Rental North America properties, every participating hotel stay, and on-property spend and maintenance fees at Wyndham timeshare properties
• 2 points per dollar for eligible gas, utility and grocery store purchases (excludes Target and Walmart)
• 1 point per dollar everywhere else.

If you hold the fee version of this card, it also comes with Platinum status which includes:

• Annual bonus of 6,000 points
• Go Free Plus- $10 gift code providing savings on a local experience.
• Go Fast Plus- $5 gift code providing savings on local attractions, parks, museums, tours and other exciting local experiences
• Early Check-in
• Late Check-out
• Preferred Room
• Avis and Budget Car Rental Upgrade (US and Canada Only)

The fee free version comes with Gold status which includes:

• Go Free Plus- $10 gift code providing savings on a local experience.
• Go Fast Plus- $5 gift code providing savings on local attractions, parks, museums, tours and other exciting local experiences
• Late Check-out
• Preferred room

When you look beyond the bonus, unless you are a big spender or frequently stay at a Wyndham property, most people would benefit more from the fee free version. The earning rates are the same outside of the extra points for paid Wyndham stays.

Possible Transfer Partner?

Barclay issues the Wyndham Rewards credit card, which isn’t great for churners since Barclay is tougher on hard pulls. Just a few months ago, Barclay released the Uber credit card and made the comment they are (possibly) adding transfer partners in 2018.

If this is true, I would think adding Wyndham Rewards would be one they would want to add. Currently, there are no credit card programs that transfer points to Wyndham, which might be why they don’t receive much love. If Barclay does add transfer partners to the Uber credit card, this could be great.

The Uber credit card earns:

This would make it much easier to earn free nights at Wyndham, if these points could be transferred to Wyndham Rewards.

This may not occur, but if this does, it might only require a few thousand dollars of spending to earn a free night.

Total Rewards Reciprocation:

This is a newer partnership, but this could be beneficial if you are looking to use points at Wyndham Hotels. Total Rewards is a rewards program for Casino and Resorts and there are more than 40 casino and resorts in this program. I won’t go into all the details of the Total Rewards Program, but the ones that make it beneficial for Wyndham Rewards.

Status Match:

Anytime you can match your status, it is a good thing (if you plan to use that status). To make this really worth your time, you would want to be a Wyndham Platinum or Diamond member.

If you visit Las Vegas frequently there are a a few benefits that could make your trip even better.  To see the benefits, here is the link to Total Rewards benefits. I think the real treasure in this status match is a free trip to Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

If you are a  Platinum Member you would receive:

If you are a Diamond Member you would receive:

By matching your Platinum status you would receive from your credit card, you would receive a one time, two night stay at Atlantis! You would need to pay the resort fees for the stay. The resort fees according to the Atlantis website is $53.70, per night. Which for this resort, paying a little over $100 is a really good deal.

If you have Diamond status, you would receive 4 nights at Atlantis, but you would need to pay the resort fee as well. This is quite cheap in comparison to paying full price for this hotel!

For more information about this, just follow this link to Total Rewards.

Point Transfers:

Transferring points to Wyndhams is difficult to do, since there aren’t many partners that will allow transfers to Wyndham Rewards.

Fortunately, Total Rewards is one of those programs that will allow it and at a 1:1 ratio as well. There is a max transfer of 30,000 points from either program. This would mean that you could transfer your Total Reward Points to Wyndham and earn an extra 2 nights free per year, if you  had 30,000 points to transfer.

While this next option may not be ideal, you can transfer your Hawaiian Airline miles to Total Rewards at a 2:1 ratio. Then you could transfer those to your Wyndham Rewards account at 1:1. With the current Hawaiian Airlines offer at 50,000 miles, this would give you 25,000 Wyndham Reward points. It probably isn’t ideal for most, but still this is an option

Promotions:

It feels like Wyndham is always having a promotion to earn extra points.

The one I see more frequently and is currently being offered is earn up to 15,000 points after 3 stays when paying with Visa Checkout.

Link to current offer

While I am not one for mileage or matress runs, I looked at Wynhdam options to earn points for cheap. There were nightly options for $30 to $40 per night. That means you could earn your 15,000 points for $90 to $120. As long as you have an option to use those points for a value greater than that, you would come out ahead.

Promotions like these, make it easier to earn free nights or even use points and cash to extend the life of your points.

Visa SavingsEdge:

The Visa SavingsEdge program is for Visa Business cards, but is often overlooked. It has some really solid discounts, especially if you stay at Wyndham hotels and do not have their co-branded credit card.

Many Wyndham hotel options are on this list and offer a 5% rebate on your paid stay. This would be a great way to stack your bonus category with this additional savings. It is a free program and all you need to do is link your business card to your account and you are all set.

Shopping Portals:

I am a big fan of using shopping portals for any online shopping, this would include hotel bookings.

Right now, the current offerings are up to 6% cash back on your bookings at Wyndham. As I tell everyone, TopCashback is one I use most, even if the payout is 1% less, because it has been extremely reliable for me in the past.

Unfortunately, the Visa Checkout Promo can’t be used when booking online or online through a mobile web page. It must be used through the app. Take that into consideration when booking your room. If there is not a Visa Checkout promotion, or you do not use the app to book your room, this is a good option.

This will stack with the Visa Savingsedge as well, so not only will you earn up to 6% through a portal, you’ll also earn 5% in a rebate from Visa Savingsedge, plus your rewards from your credit card. This is a solid way to save 10%+ on your hotel reservations.

Conclusion:

The Wyndham Rewards program has a lot to offer. I think using points for the condos, homes, and cottages are a great use of points. The credit card bonuses are quite nice and the flat 15,000 points per night is great. Especially for the higher end properties. The Go-Fast night be a better way to extend your points at 3,000 points plus cash per night.

The Total Rewards partnership offers good value as well, especially if you travel to Las Vegas frequently. I think the Atlantis benefit it quite fantastic and adds more value to the Wyndham Rewards credit card.

I do believe this program is underrated as there is much value to be had from Wyndham Rewards.

What do you think of Wyndham Rewards? Do you find it to be underrated?

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